999: On the Front Line

The paramedics never know when they're going to be called upon to save lives. On their way back to base, they're flagged down by a police van. In the back is a man who's overdosed on drugs has collapsed unresponsive. A woman with gynaecological problems is losing a lot of blood and needs to go to hospital.

A young woman has a seizure on a bus. She's epileptic but the frequency of her fits has increased dramatically in recent days. A man with a lung condition uses his own source of oxygen but today the oxygen cannister is in another room and he's too weak to reach it. A young woman with terminal cancer has collapsed and can't get up.

Seven years ago, a drug called 'monkey dust' first appeared on the streets of Stoke on Trent. The emergency services have been dealing with the consequences ever since. Today a man is found by police lying unconscious in the street following a suspected drugs overdose.

When the 999 call comes from a GP's surgery, you know the job is serious. It's a category 1 call for a child suffering a severe asthma attack. A young woman who has multiple sclerosis is in considerable pain. She used to be a professional musician until her condition made that difficult and now, she needs treatment in hospital.

It's the early hours of Saturday morning and as the clubs empty, calls to the ambulance service ramp up. A young woman is found intoxicated by the side of the road. On the same shift, an amateur boxer has had a bad night. After losing his fight he's been sick in his sleep and difficult to rouse.

The highest priority calls are reserved for life threatening emergencies. It's a Friday night and the paramedics are called to a man reported to be collapsed in the street and not breathing. A man is lying unconscious in an alleyway surrounded by needles.

It's a Thursday day shift and a young man has come off his motorbike and slid along the road. Unfortunately, he isn't wearing any protective clothing. A young boy is complaining of chest pains. There's a family history of heart problems and his mum is worried for her son.

A call comes in from the police saying a young man has collapsed outside a nightclub and isn't breathing. It's a category one emergency, the highest priority meaning there's an immediate threat to life. A young woman is having a sickle cell crisis.

The first thing a paramedic needs to do is get hands on with the patient. But if the door is locked and the patient can't open it, the only option is to get the police to break it down. It's an unusual start to the Wednesday day shift as inside the paramedics find a woman who's fallen, is on blood thinners and may have a bleed on the brain.

A woman's defibrillator located inside her chest has just delivered an electric shock to her heart. She's worried that she's having a heart attack. A man falls on his driveway resulting in a massive swelling over his eye. A patient, who's recently had bowel surgery fears he may have an infection.